Eee Reader in "final development stages"

Keeping the Asus-will-launch-Eee-Reader rumours alive, Taiwanese industry news site DigiTimes has Asus' big cheese on record saying the e-book reading device is in the "final development stages".

In a wider piece about Asus' laptop and netbook business projections, DigiTimes states: "(Jerry) Shen pointed out that the company is in the final development stages for its first e-book reader which is tentatively named the Eee Reader. The product will be available at the end of 2009 at the earliest".

This report suggests two models in the range - 6- and 9-inch models - both featuring a grayscale touchscreen display. Previous reports had suggested Asus was planning to launch two e-book readers in the UK, one a budget, most likely Eee-branded model tipped to be around the £100 mark, and one a higher end effort based on the dual-screen prototype e-book reader Asus has previously demonstrated.

Within recent weeks an Asus spokesperson told Pocket-lint that it is likely they will show a working concept of the high end dual-screen model in the UK by the end of the year, but says the "Eee Reader", as the budget version has been dubbed, is as yet unconfirmed.

Perhaps not any more... We will keep you posted.